First Aid at Workplaces

Viimati uuendatud: 11.10.2019

First Aid at Workplaces

When organizing first aid, the employer must carefully think through all necessary steps because a person’s life and subsequent health could depend on the timely and skilful first aid. Help must be available in all work-related circumstances and the manager of the company must try to organize it so that everything possible is done to keep the injured alive until the paramedics arrive.

The first aid kit must be easily accessible, marked clearly and according to requirements. The location of the first aid equipment is marked by a white cross on a green square-shaped background.

The list of mandatory first aid equipment is given in the regulation “The Provision of First Aid in Enterprises” issued by the Minister of Social Affairs. The amount of first aid equipment depends on the number of employees in a company. The list does not contain any medicaments as the employee might not be aware of possible reactions or allergies to unfamiliar medicaments. Therefore, the medicaments that a person regularly uses, should be on them, not in the company’s first aid kit.

When purchasing the first aid equipment, the company-specific needs must be taken into account. For example, when working with hazardous chemicals, it is mandatory that the workplace provides a possibility to rinse eyes (eye shower) or has burn-relieving medicaments as a first aid measure against burns.

The employer appoints the person responsible for the order of the first aid equipment. This is usually the first aid giver.

The workplace must have a room where it is possible to give first aid and keep the injured until the ambulance arrives. The rest-room of the employees might be suitable – but the most important condition is that it must be possible to lie down. How this possibility is guaranteed, is up to the employer to decide.